Throwback to When We Brought You Home

I really love this photo.

It was taken right before we got into the car to bring you home for the very first time. You were three days old. So tiny. Looking at it now, I can still remember exactly how nervous I was. I don’t think I had ever felt that combination of happiness, love, excitement, and absolute terror all at once.

It really can’t be overstated how much your world changes the second you have a child. Everything is different almost immediately. Your priorities change. Your day-to-day habits change. The things you worry about change. Even the way you look at the world changes.

Suddenly, everything is viewed through the lens of being a parent. Every decision carries a little more weight because it’s not just about you anymore. There’s this little person you love more than you knew you were capable of loving, and all you want to do is protect them, take care of them, teach them, and give them the best life you possibly can.

I remember leaving the hospital that day thinking, “They’re really just letting us leave with him?” We had spent all that time preparing to have a baby, and then suddenly there you were, in the car with us, and we were your parents. This was our life now.

And it was the beginning of the best change that has ever happened to me.

That day changed my life forever. Completely and unquestionably for the better. You’ve taught me more about patience, love, perspective, and what really matters than I could have ever imagined.

I’m a better man today because of you.

And when I look at this photo, I see the very beginning of all of it.

Love, Dad